Children Mine
by BossWooper
Summary: Life in this world was weird and complicated, and there were many things they had yet to understand. Law, "justice", affection... Humans in general were difficult, and unfortunately their host was no different. For the record, they blamed Eddie for all this. Rating may change.
1. Unwanted guests

Yo, watzup people? BossWooper here with the first fanfic I've written in years, as well as the first Spidey fanfic I've ever written.

It will focus mainly on Venom, and contain a LOT of my own headcannons for the character. It takes place in the Spectacular Spiderman universe (cartoon).

To be honest, watching some of the shows is the only thing I've seen of the Marvel universe, and I don't know a whole lot about Venom's character to be perfectly honest. So the symbiote may appear ooc to a lot of you, but this is how I picture it nonetheless.

To be brief: It's basically a docile creature, doesn't care for most other beings, but will hunt you down and murder you dead if you cross it, or the selected few it cares about. On Earth, that's Eddie.

 _Cursive_ is what Eddie shares with the symbiote without voicing it to the world, **bold** is what the symbiote shares with Eddie, and most of the story is from the symbiote's point of view. _**Combined,**_ it's the intertwined voices they use, or Venom speaking through Eddie.

R/R people, and please don't flame.

* * *

Summary:

Life in this world was weird and complicated, and there were many things they had yet to understand. Law, "justice", affection... Humans in general were difficult, and unfortunately their host was no different.

For the record, they blamed Eddie for all this.

* * *

They hadn't heard her sneaking up on them. That didn't happen often, but nothing about her presence triggered any warnings of imminent danger, and well, they had been distracted.

They had been hunched over their laundry, sorting through pants, underwear, and socks (they didn't use shirts anymore), when they heard light sobbing. Snapping their head up, they quickly took on their stronger form, the symbiote covering the human's pale skin, their body almost doubling in size before Venom crawled up the wall and started looking for the source of sound.

This could be a really bad situation. This place was their home, the only sanctuary they had in this city, on this planet. The thought of having to move everything, to find a new suitable place, to have to start over with cleaning, with building, with everything, made them gnash their teeth together in irritation. They had spent too damn long on this place to just give it up!

Following the sounds, Venom crawled out of the bedroom into the makeshift kitchen. There wasn't really a lot of stuff in here, save for some rice and chocolate in the cupboard, alongside a few other food items that didn't require a refrigerator or a freezer.

" **Where is the intruder?"**

"I don't know," Eddie grumbled under his breath. "I can't see more than you can!"

They sighed, letting go of the ceiling and landing gracefully on their feet. They whipped their head back to sniff in the air as a metallic scent hit their nostrils.

" **Blood."**

" _This intruder is wounded_ ," Eddie answered, near soundlessly moving from the empty kitchen into the living room, where a worn looking old couch rested, donned with a few pillows. Across from it was someone's coffee table, looking somewhat out of place in the run down room.

Admittedly, the table was stolen. They hadn't been able to find a suitable one anywhere, and in the end resolved to just taking one from an apartment while the inhabitants were out. They'd grown to like it really, and had tried to take a couch as well. Turned out a couch was surprisingly unhandy to drag across New York City's rooftops, and they had had to abandon it when they noticed the Spider closing in on them. Shame though. It was a nice couch.

The Spider...

They had really liked the Spider, THEIR Spider. Their first host since they arrived on Earth, strong, intelligent, athletic, fast... They had really wanted this to be their final host, their permanent host. Having a lasting connection, a "friendship" as humans seemed to call it. And they had been close.

But their Spider turned on them. Used the wretched bell's sound waves, torn painfully at them until they were forced off of it, and then attempted to freeze them to death. The bell hurt. Being torn hurt. The cold had hurt. But the worst pain came from inside, from watching helplessly as their Spider turned down the heat and then turned away, believing they were dead.

The symbiote was generally not an aggressive being, at least not to its hosts. The other symbiotes, its family... They were aggressive. Aimed to subdue and control their hosts, never staying in one place for too long, and never letting their former hosts live for very long. That's really why the others had tossed it out, believing it would contaminate the family line.

But the Spider's actions made it aggressive. Made it furious. Made it feel worse than when exiled even. They had hunted the Spider down, showed it just how superior they really were. The Spider had given up, fallen to its knees, and begged for forgiveness. And the symbiote had believed it, rejoined with it, only to be rejected again, and buried alive for MONTHS.

" _Venom?"_

They snapped back to attention, their confused host wondering why they were stalling.

Eddie...

Their new host was aggressive too, hated the Spider just as they did themselves. But Eddie wasn't like the Spider. Eddie was eager to receive its gifts, happy to accept its company, and cool with letting it take control of their body. Eddie generally did most of the talking, mainly because he was better at it. Human speech was primitive and unnecessarily complicated at the same time.

Eddie was a good host. While he wasn't the image of a kindhearted, good willed human being, he was good to the symbiote. They had spent quite a lot of time together already, done their best to avoid the Spider after they rejoined...

" _Venom, are you even listening?"_

" **Apologies, host mine. We were lost in thought."**

Venom was what they called themselves, but also what Eddie called the symbiote. Names was a human concept, weird and alien to the symbiote, but apparently necessary for humans to distinguish between each other. The symbiote had grown to like its name.

A light touch on their left wrist made Venom give off a highly dignified squeak and jump back onto the ceiling, turning to face the attacker, gasping lightly for air in shock and indignation of being spooked.

They blinked in surprise however, when realizing their attacker seemed just as spooked as themselves. Actually, a lot more spooked. And a lot smaller than they expected.

It was a human cub ( _child_ Eddie corrected them), a female judging from the red dress and the long blond hair with the torn little ribbon. The metallic scent seemed to originate from her left arm, cuddled to her chest. Venom couldn't see the wound itself, but fresh red blood ran from it onto the floor. They frowned lightly. Blood was such a mess to clean up!

The human still on the floor started whimpering and sniffling in fear, staring wide eyed at Venom's black skin and bared teeth.

" **What the hell?!"**

" _I think we spooked her."_ Eddie mumbled back, showing a bit more concern for the human than the symbiote felt was necessary. It had to keep in mind humans were social creatures and looked after one another's young. According to their host, this human infant ( _child!_ Eddie corrected them again), couldn't be more than 7 years old, and probably younger than that.

Silently berating themselves for letting the human baby (Eddie sighed in resignation) sneak up on them, Venom dropped from the ceiling and landed on their feet in front of the girl, with a little more force than earlier. She yelped and fell backwards on her bottom, then started crawling backwards and crying noisily.

While the sound wasn't loud or powerful enough to be painful, it was still annoying.

" _She must've thought we were human when she approached us,"_ Eddie reasoned. _"We do seem like one from behind, and the lights aren't on."_

Venom scoffed in return, and eyed the little human closer. She was visibly scared, shaking with fear and possibly blood loss. Fixating their gaze on her bleeding arm, Eddie suddenly reached out and took it gently to get a better look at the wound.

" _ **What happened?"**_ They demanded, the girl hiccupping in fear at their unnatural voice. She didn't answer the question.

" _ **You're bleeding, and its bad,"**_ they reasoned, eyeing the long gash in her forearm. _**"Did someone do this to you?"**_ Their eyes moved from the wound to look the girls in the eyes, and even though quivering with fear, she shook her head.

"I fell," she whimpered, looking at her feet. It was obvious to them that she wasn't telling the whole truth.

" **Why do we care?"** Venom questioned. This was a waste of time and dangerous too. If someone came here looking for the girl...

" _She's hurt and needs help. She's just a child, and we can easily make her forget where we live. We have no need to kill her."_ Venom sighed and reluctantly bore with the human's antics. Just this once then. They'd help the human, and then let her go. Young as she was, a fast paced zigzagging across the city roofs should easily make her lose her bearings.

In an attempt to seem less intimidating, they crouched down in front of the girl, the symbiote letting Eddie handle the situation. The symbiote's... _people skills_ wasn't really that great.

They let go of the human girl's arm and leaned a little back to give her some air.

" _ **We won't hurt you,"**_ they assured her, offering a clawed hand, palm up and open. _**"We just want to help you, and then take you home. But you have to promise us something in return. Can you do that?"**_

She didn't agree immediately, looking unsure of what to do for a few moments before answering. "What... What do you... Do you want me to do?" She stammered, starting to shake again. Venom closed their mouth to seem as non-threatening as possible, only moving his lips lightly so his teeth wouldn't constantly flash.

" _ **We need you to promise to never tell anyone you saw us here. Nobody else can know. Understand?"**_

She nodded this time, reaching out her little finger. "Pinkie promise," she whispered, as if it was a holy oath. They smiled as gently as they could and wrapped the tip of their own claw around it. _**"Pinkie promise."**_ They repeated.

~(¤)~

A foot hit the edge of the rooftop and something jumped into the open air between the skyscrapers. A hand reached out and a web shot from it and latched onto a building several yards above the falling figure. A small squeak could be heard as it swung in the web, let go, and flew several yards in the open air before shooting another web. It suddenly changed direction with a yelp, landed on a rooftop, scaled another, and ran east for a few minutes before changing direction again.

" _ **Where do you live?"**_ Venom huffed, carrying the small human on their back. They had secured her position with a few tendrils, but she was still clinging to them like a cruddalier to a xenox. (The symbiote promised to tell Eddie what those was, but now wasn't the time.)

Gasping for air, the girl stretched slightly to avoid burying her voice in Venom's back. "St. James' home for orphans," she gasped, "In midtown east."

Venom cocked an eyebrow. _**"You're an orphan?"**_ They asked. She nodded slightly. "Then we're two." They mumbled, only using Eddie's voice, but she didn't seem to hear them.

Taking a few more swings back and forth across Hell's Kitchen before heading back to midtown east, they found the orphanage within half an hour with a bit of help from the girl. Few lights were on this late, but Venom still kept their safe distance to the place and landed in an alley nearby instead. Supporting the girl's weight with one hand, they carefully put her down, retrieving the tendrils that had kept her in place.

" _ **You can go the rest of the way on your own just fine, yes?"**_ They asked, and she nodded, blinking sleepily. They mentally shrugged. It was very late and she should probably have been in bed hours ago. Come to think of it, people were probably looking all over for her. They stayed to make sure she got home safely, and finally left as she entered the door, the shadow of a frantic adult in the door.

" **Let's pray she don't tell them who got her here. Or where she got those black webs on her arms."**

" _She's just a kid. We can't be sure, but it's too late now anyway."_

" **Not necessarily. We can break the place down, murder the staff and the kids, and preserve both our home and our reputation."**

"This is a children's home! Absolutely not!" Eddie got so worked up he even forgot to use his inner voice to address the symbiote. Venom sighed.

" **Fine. But if we get run out of town by reporters and whatnot, we blame you."**

* * *

Yeah, the chapters will generally be this long or shorter. And yes, the girl will have a significant role in the story.

Cookie points to anyone who can figure out why Venom has chocolate in the cupboard.


	2. Bullies

Hello everybody, BossWooper here, back with another chapter. There's a few things I forgot to make clear last time, so allow me to do so now.

This takes place in a hypothetical 3rd season of Spectacular Spiderman. The Venom symbiote returned to Eddie, and I might just make a one-shot of their reunion... Somewhere in the future... Maybe.

Also, Venom will have an ability that is NOT cannon. If you don't like that, now might be a good time to turn back.

If anyone is interested in beta reading this story for me, you're very welcome to contact me!

Again, _cursive_ is Eddie communicating silently with the symbiote, **bold** is Venom communicating with Eddie, and _**combined bold and cursive**_ is the intertwined voice of Venom and Eddie.

R/R people, and please don't flame.

(There's been some minor updates to the last chapter)

* * *

It was late when they woke up next morning, the sun peeping in through the holes in the walls. They didn't have any other light sources in here, and they were a bit disappointed to have wasted sunlight on sleeping.

"We were tired. It was a late night."

" **Because we were busy cleaning blood off the floor. And soon we might be busy repacking and fleeing across the city when the hatchling tells on us!"**

"It's a child. Humans don't hatch from eggs."

" **You're avoiding the subject."**

They sighed deeply.

"I know. I know we should've gotten rid of her. But I couldn't. I'm an orphan too you know? I guess she hit a soft spot in us."

" **In you. Let's just hope she lost her bearings when we were jumping all over town."**

"She's what, 6? There's no way she would know where we are."

" **The house of children is close by. We should've considered the possibility earlier."**

They gave off an irritated growl. "It's too late now. We just have to keep our eyes open for any signs of trouble! Let's do the laundry instead."

" **The kitchen laundry is dirty too."**

"That's the dishes Venom."

" **Irrelevant."**

* * *

Speechless.

That's what they were, speechless.

They had been out, spending most of the day looking for useful stuff, had even found some nice covers to bring home, a satisfying meal, and had the delight of watching the Spider being on the receiving end of a good old-school beating. It had been getting late, so they turned home.

Now they had a small box of cookies and a child's drawing waiting innocently for them INSIDE THEIR HOME!

Shutting their open mouth shut, they swiftly stepped inside and closed the door, eyeing the box with suspicion. They snuck closer as if worried it might be full of explosives, and carefully picked up the paper, giving it a closer look.

"Thnk u fo helpin me" was written in large messy letters above a primitive drawing of what seemed like a small smiling human holding hands with a larger black shape with big arms and white spots as eyes. A happy mouth was barely visible under the black ink.

" **... She found us."**

" _She sure did."_

" **She knows where we live. She knows how to get here. She could tell anyone. We could be in danger."**

" _Yeah."_

" **... She bought us cookies?"**

" _Chocolate chip."_

" **Why?"**

" _I guess she likes us."_

" **Likes us? Really? She was scared witless just yesterday."**

" _Kids are weird like that. It can seem pretty random whom they like. I don't think she'll tell anyone."_

They walked into the kitchen and put the drawing down on a table, stuffing a cookie into their mouth thoughtfully.

"... Mm"

This was... weird. Typically children ran away screaming when they saw them, most adults too, but this tiny human had bought them gifts. _"Gratitude."_ Eddie informed them.

Gratitude wasn't a concept they had ever really understood, as it didn't exist in their old home. Eddie had tried to explain it, said it was when someone did something for you, but it wasn't like being in debt to someone. It was happiness, relief, and appreciation towards the one who helped you. Absolute nonsense if you asked the symbiote.

At least the cookies were good. Venom shrugged and slumped down on the couch to read one of Eddie's old books. The symbiote preferred to focus its attention on the cookies instead.

* * *

Several weeks passed, and nobody barged through the door, no gunshots or police sirens was heard in the little run-down apartment, no Spider swung inside and attacked. Eventually, they forgot the little human who gave them cookies for bandaging her arm.

Until she suddenly stood crying and bleeding in their doorway, left eye swollen, lip broken, and tears running down her flushed face. Eddie reacted before the spooked symbiote gathered themselves from the shock, and ran to her side, kneeling down to her level.

" _ **What happened?"**_ Eddie demanded with their voice. The alien was actually surprised at the ferocity in their host's mind and voice. It wasn't difficult to conclude someone did this to her, but it was none of their business and they should really be upset over the fact that she came here uninvited. But Eddie paid them absolutely no attention.

The wounded and whimpering human didn't answer their question, but buried her face in their chest. In the midst of getting pretty upset about being smothered with salty tears and snot and blood and what the hell not, they realized to their horror _that they weren't covering their host's face and now knew what they really looked like!_

Eddie didn't seem to care, and just wrapped the little human in their arms, rocking back and forth in a strange motion the symbiote didn't quite understand. They closed the open door with a tendril and mentally stepped back, watching the scene as if watching one a movie, just as they once did with their Spider.

Eddie kept whispering small shushing words and sounds, and the baby human cried. They stayed like that for almost a whole 10 minutes, and the symbiote was on the brink of demanding them to let go and throw her out of their goddamn home, when she finally calmed down and Eddie lifted the snotty little twat to the kitchen and put her on the table. He then reached into the cupboard and brought out a bar of THEIR CHOCOLATE!

" **That's ours!"**

" _Shut your figurative trap Venom."_

And they did, actually. Eddie hadn't ever talked back at them like that; he was usually a very agreeable host. But something had ticked him off, and they decided it was best to just let him do as he pleased for now. They could always steal more chocolate; it just happened that the symbiote just wasn't too fond of the human concept of 'sharing'. Especially not food items.

Eddie lifted them up and sat them down on the table next to the other human, offering some of the chocolate, much to the symbiote's dismay.

The smaller human shyly took it, unwrapping it before taking a small bite and handing it back.

While they were miffed that Eddie had to guts to smile and refuse their own food, the symbiote still decided not to interfere. A happy host what simply that much less likely to turn on them, and Eddie had gained a pretty good idea of their weaknesses. The thought of what would've happened if the Spider had known heat was a much bigger threat than cold still haunted them, and they didn't really want to have a repetition of last time they had a fight with their host.

Instead, they quietly listened to the exchange of words between the two humans, hoping to learn more about the way they worked. Apparently some of the small human's fellow small humans had lashed out at her, something that had been a reoccurring experience for it over some time.

The symbiote still wasn't completely adjusted to the human sense of time passing, but it assumed it would have been going on during at least one trip around the star of the solar system.

These other small humans had ganged up on her, cornered her, and started beating her while she was defenseless. The symbiote couldn't help but mentally scoff at this. Humans were weak and fragile, but put a few of them in a group and they think they can take on the world. The word 'bullies' were repeated several times, and they recognized it from when they were still joined with their Spider. 'Bullies' were a negative expression for humans with the aforementioned behavior apparently.

The first time the human calf ( _child,_ Eddie reminded them resignedly) had gotten here, had been one of those occurrences. She had left the home of children, and headed towards a nearby place she called her 'alone time spot'. It was against the rules, but there were a small hole in the fence the matured humans hadn't seen yet.

When she had almost reached her 'spot', some of the bullies had noticed her and yelled at her. She had been spooked and slipped, and ended up with a scratched up arm. Eddie's door had been visible from where she landed, and she had entered in the hopes of finding an adult who could help her. Instead she found Venom.

Eddie kept responding with useless anger directed at the bullies, but also light hugs and smiles, and even the offer of taking out her bullies for her. She was thoughtful for a moment, but eventually frowned and shook her head, claiming 'Lisette' wouldn't appreciate that. 'Lisette' was apparently a grown human at the home of children, and the small human were fond of her.

"Well, if you say so... Wait, I didn't even get your name. What's your name, kid?"

Venom would never get used to hearing its own voice sound so polite and friendly. They silently wondered how it'd sound if their voices intertwined while they talked like that, but Eddie pushed the thought aside.

"Tell me your name, and I'll tell you mine."

The little brat beamed at them, and Venom couldn't help but reluctantly admit she had guts. Very few people had the courage to refuse them anything, and this was just a cub ( _child!_ Eddie reminded them, again. Venom could really not be bothered to care). Eddie claimed it was actually _because_ she was this young she had such courage.

Venom was starting to understand this 'children' concept less and less.

" _ **We're Venom,"**_ they announced, their voices intertwining again.

"We?" The small human tilted her head curiously.

"Yes," Eddie began to explain. "We're two people. I'm Eddie. My Other, is Venom. We use my other's name when we're work together." The child frowned lightly.

"That's weird." She announced after a short pause. Straight to the point and no beating around the bush. Venom found human young, however confusing they were, might actually be favorable to handle compared to their matured variant. They shrugged.

"That's just how it is. Now tell us your name."

She hesitated a moment. "Lisette says I'm not allowed to tell it to strangers," she began, then put on a more determined look. "But you helped me, and you told me your name. I'm Jennifer." She puffed her chest out lightly, as if praising herself for some kind of courageous action.

"That's a nice name," they commented. Or, Eddie commented at least. Venom couldn't really be bothered to care.

A slight blush rose to her cheeks and she smiled shyly. "Thanks. Yours is pretty cool too."

Eddie grinned and was about respond, when Venom interrupted. _**"Which one?"**_

"Venom," she replied happily. "It's awesome!"

They gave off a sharp, but amused laugh. _**"Sure is! Better than 'Eddie' too."**_ Eddie gave off an indignant huff, and the smaller human laughed for a bit, then suddenly looked nervous and bit her lip.

" _ **Is something the matter?"**_ They tilted their head lightly, Venom reaching a tentacle down to snatch a cookie from the cupboard.

She looked down awkwardly, as if afraid to look them in the eyes. When she finally spoke, her voice was so low they almost didn't hear her.

"Aren't you one of the bad guys? I saw you fighting Spiderman on TV once..."

They gave her a long thoughtful look, contemplating their answer. In the end, Venom spoke for them, pushing Eddie a bit into the background.

" _ **The kids that hurt you... They were bullies, correct?"**_ When she nodded, they continued, stuffing a cookie into their mouth. _**"The Spider is our bully. It hurt us, and we hit back. Is that wrong?"**_ The girl's eyes widened as she absorbed this new information.

"Spiderman... Is a bully?" She finally asked, then frowned. "But he saves people!"

" _ **He likes the adrenaline,"**_ they shrugged, _**"he likes to think he's doing it for others, but that isn't entirely true."**_

"A... adre..." She seemed confused.

" _ **The rush. The thrill. He finds it fun."**_

"Oh..." She looked down again. "... He bullied you?"

They nodded grimly, Eddie taking control again, and Venom's voice slithering out of their speak. "He took everything from us and tried to hurt us badly. We hit back, and suddenly WE are the bad guy!" Eddie scowled, and Venom reached for another cookie. The human larvae (" _Now you're just trying to annoy me!"_ ) frowned as well.

"That's really bad!" She exclaimed, trying to look fierce and failing hilariously to do so. "Spiderman's bad! I'm on your side!" She wrapped her arms around the puzzled Eddie who was caught between amusement and surprise.

"We... Thank –" Eddie stopped midsentence and choked, spitting out the cookie Venom had just shoved into their mouth. "Damnit Venom! Not while I talk!" He coughed, lightly embarrassed and wiped cookie crumbles off the counter. "Thank you Jennifer. We appreciate it." They offered her a sheepish smile.

She giggled. "You're welcome!"

* * *

After taking care of her wounds, they took her near the house of children or 'orphanage' as Eddie called it. This time they went directly to their destination, rather than running across the majority of Manhattan like last time.

They landed swiftly in the same alley they sat her down just weeks ago, and lifted her to the ground. It wasn't as late this time, and hopefully she wouldn't be in trouble. As she was about to run home, the placed a large clawed hand on her shoulder, making her look up.

"Jenn, if those kids are ever after you again, feel free to come by my place, as long as you're alone." Venom huffed and pushed past Eddie's consciousness. _**"In fact, you can come by anytime you please. If we're not home, you can wait for us. But hands off the chocolate. It's ours."**_

With that, they turned from the waving human, and jumped back up to the roof.

" _What was that about?"_

" **What?"**

" _I thought you didn't like her?"_

" **She just claimed herself to be an ally. We don't have a lot of those, and she makes you happy. Seemed reason enough."**

" _Aw, you do care."_

" **Shut up Eddie. We're not finished yet."**

" _We're not?"_

They grinned broadly, showing off all their deadly sharp teeth.

" **No. We have a few... 'Bullies' to take care of first!"**

* * *

Dun Dun Dun! Will there be death and murder? Will Lisette be upset? Will Jennifer eat all Venom's chocolate? Find out in the next chapter!

Apologizes for the lateness of this chapter, I got stuck. Fluff isn't my thing, and there wasn't any action in the chapter. Hopefully there will be in the next!


	3. Attention

I am so, so sorry for the lateness of this chapter! Something came up and I had to rewrite the entire thing to not make Venom look like the dumbest thing on Earth.

WARNING! This chapter contains graphic descriptions of violence against children. If this triggers you in any way, this may not be the fic for you. You've been warned.

Do note that future violence will be directed at adults or teenagers. This is (most likely) a one-time occurrence.

Just a reminder: _Cursive_ is the thoughts Eddie shares with the symbiote, **bold** is what the symbiote shares with Eddie or Venom speaking through Eddie, and _**Combined**_ is the intertwined voices they use.

* * *

A group of four kids walked down the street in Midtown, laughing and joking loudly about something. One of the kids were waving his arms around, yelling something and laughing louder than his peers. The kid next to him, a ratty looking boy with greasy half-long hair, widened his eyes and raised his hands in front of his face.

"Don't hurt me or you'll regret it!" He exclaimed in a fake high-pitched voice, trying, and succeeding comically, to sound like a little girl. "My friend will come after you and he's sooo strong!" His act made the other kids laugh even louder, and the lone girl of the group, a skinny blonde with a voice that could've shattered glass, scoffed. "Like, she actually has any friends!"

The last kid, looking younger than the others and much less confident, laughed lightly and nodded. The first kid, wearing his cap backwards and seemly the leader of the group, turned to face his peers. "Watch out guys! Her imaginary friends will come beat us up! We'll be dead before we can even go –"

A series of black tendrils shot out from an alley just as the children passed by. All four was caught by the webs and dragged forcefully into the darkness, now somewhat hidden from sight. A fifth and sixth voice broke into the conversation, intertwined and unnatural, cutting through the evening like a sharp knife. _**"That's what we were hoping for, but we promised to play nice."**_

All four kids looked up shakily at the large bulking frame towering over them. The humanoid was nearly 7 feet tall, four times as muscular as a regular man, and showing off a deadly set of sharp teeth. A long pink tongue swirled around, tasting the air shortly, before retreating to the creature's mouth. From their fallen position on the pavement, the creature truly looked like a monster. A slight smell of urine spread into the already murky alleyway air.

They reached down and picked Cap-Boy off the pavement with one arm, pulling him to his feet, but keeping a secure grasp on his shoulder. Ratty started scrambling away, but they quickly snatched him by the back of his collar, letting him hang in the air for a few moments before dropping him on his feet. Before he regained his balance, they got a hold of Blondie who seemed ready to scream, using their free hand to hold her shirt tightly. Just as Ratty was about to bolt, they wrapped the arm holding Blondie around his thin shoulders, trapping the brat with their elbow. This had forced them to crouch down, but it worked.

Unlike his peers, Scrawny didn't seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon. He had climbed to his feet, but was trapped between Venom and the wall.

" _ **Hello kids,"**_ they almost purred, voice just low enough to give the impression of a snarl. _**"Care to let us in on the joke?"**_

When none of the kids answered, they frowned lightly in disapproval.

" _ **Wow, that's rude. Don't be like that, tell uncle Venom what's funny,"**_ The tone of friendliness disappeared from their voice and the lower part of their voice became that much more prominent. **"We do so hate being ignored. If you don't tell us, we might get upset."** They tightened the grip on the kids' shoulders and Blondie's shirt, ripping it lightly at the shoulder. Her squeak was enough to startle Ratty into talking.

"W-we were just, y'know, making fun of J-Jenny." He shook as Venom turned their attention towards him and sent Cap-Boy a pleading look. Cap-Boy nodded rapidly, and Venom vaguely wondered if his head would fall off.

"T-that's right! S-she's like, totally weird, and we were just laughing about it. She has, um, imaginary friends, and thinks she can talk to her t-toys." His voice was shaking and his lip quivering. His already ugly face was slowly getting overrun with snot and tears, and it wasn't doing anything good for his cosmetic situation.

Blondie sniffled fearfully, eyes red and watering, and tried to wrestle their fingers out of her shirt, but stopped when they gently pressed a thumb against her throat and started crying lowly instead.

"We didn't mean it so hard," Ratty tried, looking anywhere but at Venom. "We just—"

"They beat her up."

Everybody turned to look at Scrawny, who was uncomfortably scraping his feet on the dirty pavement. Complete silence fell over the group, as Cap-Boy and Gang stared at the friend in stupefied horror.

" _ **Really?"**_ Venom broke the silence, looking intensely at Scrawny, who nodded slowly.

"Yeah. They chased her down to the old railroad and beat her up. Benjamin nearly broke her arm once."

Hope was starting to glimmer in Scrawny's eyes. He started talking faster, telling on his friends, thinking Venom would let him go free and hurt the others instead.

"They do it all the time. When the grownups aren't looking, they beat her up and push her and kick her. Sandra broke her teddy yesterday too. And Roy keeps taking her snacks."

They nodded thoughtfully, dragging Ratty a little closer when he tried to squirm away. _**"Interesting..."**_ they said, tilting their head lightly. _**"And you never do that?"**_

The snitch shook his head rapidly. "It wasn't me, it was them." To empathize his accusation, he pointed a finger at the terrified kids shaking in Venom's grasp. "They hurt me too," He added after a short pause, the lie as clear as the fear in his eyes.

" _ **Ah,"**_ they cooed, _**"you're completely innocent and never laid a finger on our friend? You're as much a victim here as they are?"**_

Scrawny started nodding eagerly, but stopped when Venom leaned into his face, gaping lightly at the long teeth just inches from his face, leaning as far into the wall behind him as he could.

" _ **Do you think we're stupid?"**_

* * *

 _Whack!_

Bone gave way for the force behind their fist and blood splattered lightly on the grey wall and asphalt, and even a bit on one of the dumpsters. Blondie screamed and Ratty stumbled backwards with a muffled whimper, holding his broken nose.

 _Crack!_

Cap-Boy screeched as his right arm was dragged forcefully backwards, dislocating his shoulder and fracturing the bone in the upper arm.

 _Swish!_

A black tendril shot out and wrapped itself around the screaming girl's waist, lifting her into the air and pulling her back towards the monster when she tried to run.

 _Thump!_

Scrawny made an unintelligible sound as he slammed into the pavement. Blondie wailed loudly as her head was yanked back by the hair, the tendril pulling until she felt backwards, landing on her back and scraping her knee.

 _Thwack!_

A large clawed hand slapped Ratty on the left side of his head, smacking him into Cap-Boy, and the two fell soundlessly to the ground.

"HEL–"

Blondie practically flew face first into a wall, cracking her brow and slumping unconsciously down, landing just a few feet from Cap-Boy and Ratty's lifeless bodies.

"Gh..."

Scrawny's mouth hung open, drooling lightly as they held him by the throat, cutting off his air supply. Venom grinned at the struggling boy whose eyes looked about to pop out of their sockets.

None of the young humans were strong enough to even slow them down in their assault. In this state, they were one, man and symbiote, human and alien. This was perfection in action; there was no separate thoughts, no clashing intentions or desires. There were only Venom.

They licked their lips hungrily as the dull blue eyes started rolling upwards, feeling the frail body giving in to their overwhelming power, life fading...

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

They immediately snapped back to attention. The Spider, **their** Spider, was perched on one of the walls above them. They reasoned the sounds must've alerted it of their presence.

Their Spider was absolutely shaking with fury. Even through the mask, the emotion was as clear as had it been nude. It leapt off the wall and towards them, landing on the pavement when they let go of their prey and skipped to the left. Their Spider quickly picked up the limp human and checked for vital signs, all without taking its eyes off the symbiote.

Venom quickly scanned the scene. Small bloody humans were scattered in the alley as if something had dropped them. Blood ran down Blondie's closed eye, further down her cheek, where it dripped onto the ground. Her hair was messy and some of it had been pulled loose. Ratty and Cap-Boy lay side by side, Cap-Boy's arm in an unnatural position under him and his hair was caked with blood. Ratty was lying face down, blood pooling around his face. Scrawny was still nestled in their furious Spider's arms, neck red and blue, blood dripping from his lips, presumably due to shattered ribs. None of these kids would be leaving the hospital anytime soon.

However much fun this had been, they had to admit the job was a little overdone. Better to head home before their Spider had time to call for help and take up the chase.

They jumped up the wall suddenly, startling their Spider almost enough for him to fall over, and dashed across the rooftops of the city

This could be problematic. They had been discovered, and they hadn't had time to threaten the bullies into silence, and the Spider had seen them. They might be secure themselves, but Jenny would fall under suspicion. She was very small and not so strong mentally. If under pressure, she might slip up and tell of their home. It had been better if they had had the chance to kill the human spawn before leaving...

Eddie gagged.

 **Oh hell no!**

They changed direction on the spot and jumped down and alley, peeling away from their host before bending them over a dumpster, where Eddie emptied the contents of their stomach with a disgusting noise.

They waited carefully until the human was done heaving before snarling in annoyance.

" **We thought this was what you wanted!"**

"It- it is- it's-" Eddie gulped in some air, taking to mental communication instead.

" _It IS what I wanted! I'm just not... Just not used to seeing blood like that. Like, so much of it. And they were... They were kids!"_

They scoffed irritably. **"So is your new friend. They hit first!"**

" _They're still kids, we're adults! They didn't stand a chance!"_

" **Of course they didn't!"**

" _That's the point! We almost killed them!"_

" **They deserved to die. The small female is our ally."**

" _We promised we wouldn't actually kill them!"_

" **We did. And we kept our promise. All four are still breathing."**

" _You almost killed that last one!"_

"' **You'? We did this together, we are one!"**

" _I..!"_ Eddie sighed shakenly. He took a few second to breathe before talking again. "You're right. We both did this. It was wrong of me to accuse you; I was as much at fault as you were. I'm sorry."

" **All forgiven. If you're okay again, let's head home. We need sustenance now, we just lost our dinner."**

They covered their body again, Venom taking control of their body to give Eddie's mind time to rest. After spitting in the dumpster to get the foul taste out of their mouth, they jumped back up to the roofs and headed home.

Eddie was noticeable quiet on the short trip, lost in his own thoughts. After making sure he wasn't going to rebel against them, Venom left him to his own devices and focused on getting home before their Spider caught up.

* * *

Bad. Very, very bad. Things could hardly have gone worse.

Cap-Boy were in coma, Ratty and Scrawny had still not woken up, but Blondie had. She had immediately connected them to Jennifer, and the whole situation was on everyone's tongues now. The Spider had publically announced he wouldn't rest until they had been found, and Jennifer was in police custody now.

This was possibly the worst decision they could've made.

" _What the hell do we do now?!"_

" **We go to the police station, apologize publically, spend a few decades in jail, then start a new life as a reformed entity."**

Eddie was completely silent as they headed out the door.

" **It was a joke dumbass, we're going to break our ally out of jail!"**

* * *

Aand, here we stop for today.

Originally the assault took place on an open street, and I realized how dumb that was. This was still a hasty and dumb decision, but at least a little more reasonable.

Pleasedon'thatemeforthislatechapteroritscontents!


	4. Escape

And we're back, I think. School had started, so future updating will be slow. I'm sorry.

Updated the summary and a few mistakes in the last chapters, so you can check that out, or you can ignore it. Up to you.

Still looking for a beta reader btw.

* * *

Okay, this was going to be tricky.

The whole place was littered with police officers, and they were unsettled to see a large bell being hung up within close distance of three guards armed with some sort of metal stick. The stick was probably capable of causing a whole lot of painful noise when hit against the bell.

They didn't even know where Jennifer was being kept, but Eddie said it was most likely in the police officers' lounge room. Little kids were generally not put in jail cells like adults.

" _What's the plan?"_

The eyed the guards, the bell, the cameras.

" **Stealth will be impossible. We'll have to try a more direct approach."**

" _Beat up everyone, snatch Jennifer, run away?"_

" **The bell would be rung and we'd be stopped and stuffed in a jail cell before we'd have time to demand a one of those penguins you told us about."**

" _True. So what then?"_

" **We're not sure. We might need a distraction of some kind, but where do we get it from?"**

" _...I have an idea. You like explosives?"_

" **...Explosives?"**

* * *

The sound was earsplitting when the western wall of the police station collapsed in a cloud of smoke and dust. Escaped convicts were running around confused, and the police officers were trying to figure out what happened, while containing the convicts and help the two officers that had gotten hurt when the bell was suddenly blown into a million pieces.

The confusion was total.

In the midst of the chaos, they ran. Straight across the yard, between all the spooked policemen, towards the building. And nobody stopped them, nobody recognized them.

Granted, they DID knock out an officer and snatch his uniform when he turned a corner and got out of sight, and they WEREN'T covering Eddie's body as more than a shirt, and MAYBE a few of the officers had gotten hurt during the sudden explosion.

" **This plan is reckless, and we're all going to die, and it's all your fault."**

" _Well, nobody's stopped us yet. And you gotta admit, the web-slingshot with the explosives was genius."_

" **You've watched far too much television."**

They shoved their way through the door, ignoring the yelling behind them. Venom still felt the shockwave of the explosion, and the pain, added to the stress and confusion, was starting to take its toll on the symbiote.

" **Who even says we can find the human spawn here?! She could be anywhere, and this would all have been for nothing! We'll be caught, tied up, and stuffed in a cell where we'll never see the sunlight again!"**

" _Don't be such a pessimist, we'll find her soon, just you see!"_

And, lo and behold, purely through dumb luck, they did actually find her! Running down the hallway, pink dress waving around her knees and a some kind of toy clutched to her chest, was Jennifer.

They snatched her up before she had time to change direction and started running back out of the building, noticing with some unease how the scent of smoke and fire was flowing down towards them. Almost immediately she started trashing in their grasp.

"Shh, Jenn, it's us!" Eddie whispered, turning his face lightly to look at her. "We're getting you out of here!"

Her teary eyes widened, and she immediately fell limp in their arms, jaw slightly agape.

"Eddie?" She whispered.

"The one and only." They grinned.

Her reddened face brightened in a shaky smile, and she swung her free arm around their neck, giving them a close hug, smearing snot and tears all over them again. "Hi Venom." She whispered into their chest.

"Get ready to hold on tight. As soon as we get outside, we'll have to run fast, and we may have to swing away. We can't carry you on our back, because we might get shot at, ok? Don't worry, you're gonna be alright."

She nodded slightly and pulled her stuffed toy close to herself, then swung the other arm around their neck and buried her face in their chest, just as they bolted out the door and down towards the road. Someone behind them yelled at them to halt.

Tendrils shot out from their chest, a few of them holding and keeping Jennifer tightly in place, the others wrapping around and covering Eddie's body, transforming them into Venom, and scaring the daylight out of the officer. They lifted a hand, shot off a web, and swung away from the fire, smoke, and chaos.

A couple bullets swished past their ears, but then they changed direction and there was nothing but air around them for several minutes. They raced down the streets, changing direction at almost every corner to shake off any potential pursuers.

Landing on a roof several blocks away, they once again wrapped their arms around the small entity clinging to their chest, and continued on foot. Jennifer was shaking with cold in her dress, and they had very little body heat to offer her in this form. Despite that, they couldn't afford to slow down.

" _ **We'll be there in just a couple more minutes Jenn, just hold on a bit more. You're gonna be alright."**_

She nodded very lightly into their chest, still keeping her toy in place. They were close to home now, and it seemed nobody had been able to follow them here. The rescue mission seemed to be a success.

"PUT DOWN THAT KID, EDDIE!"

Oh no.

Slowing down to a stop, they reluctantly turned around to face their persistent pursuer. The Spider stopped as well, gasping for air and fighting not to fall over. They realized he must've been moving pretty fast to be able to keep up, considering how they were faster than him. If they had kept running, he would probably have had to give up the chase. On the other hand, they might've led him directly to their home.

"Put her down, I said!"

They had to think fast now. Run, and the Spider would find their home. The consequences would be catastrophic. Fight, and Jennifer might get hurt. Not an option. Neither was surrendering. The Spider might only want to put Eddie in jail, but they weren't sure they'd be allowed to go with their host. Considering their last encounters, they might just as well be attempted murdered again.

So what then?

"I said, PUT. HER. DOWN. EDDIE!" The Spider had gathered himself a bit, and was now stalking towards them threateningly. They started cautiously backing away.

"Put her down! She hasn't done anything, and you have no right to take her away. I swear, if you don't put her down right now..!"

If the Spider would come just a little closer...

"You sonova-" The Spider took one step too close to them, unknowingly placing himself in position.

They jumped forward and gave the startled teen a harsh shove backwards, through the open door to the stairs. As he fell with a foul profanity, they dove off the rooftop and swung down, keeping Jennifer close and keeping low. When their Spider got back up to the roof, they were nowhere in sight.

He must've learned that profanity recently, because they certainly didn't recognize it from their time together.

* * *

The door swung open so fast it almost crashed into the wall behind it. They bolted inside and shut the door behind them after putting Jennifer and her teddy down.

" _ **Shit,"**_ Eddie cursed, _**"Jenn, are you alright?!"**_

"You shouldn't swear."

Leaning against the closed door, they almost forgot to breathe for a moment. _**"...What?"**_

"Swearing is bad. You have to pay a cent to Carmen each time you swear."

They turned their head and looked flabbergasted down and the snot-nosed, teary-eyed, and shaking little human at their feet. She looked back up with a frightened, but firm glare.

They slowly turned around to face her. They were towering over her, several times her height and size, mouth just slightly open so the pointy teeth were visible. _**"...Swearing is bad?"**_

She nodded slightly. "...Yes."

A few seconds passed. Then a grin spread across their dark face, teeth glinting in the receding sunlight. If nothing else, the small human was certainly entertaining.

" _ **Well, we're sorry then."**_ They shook their head with a chuckle. _**"Unfortunately we don't have any cents to pay this Carmen person."**_

Jennifer didn't share their amusement. She was glaring at them with angry teary eyes and her teddy hugged close to her chest.

" _ **Ha, ha, hm, huh... uh..."**_

They stopped laughing and rubbed the back of their neck awkwardly, the symbiote retreating and going back to the disguise of a formfitting black t-shirt on Eddie's chest. Jennifer didn't stop scowling at them though.

"I told you not to hurt them."

Eddie blinked a couple of times before realization sank in. "Eh, oh! We, uh, yeah. Yeah we know. We overdid it a bit, yeah." He turned and looked away, shrinking in front of the baby human ( _Not a baby!_ ), despite being many times her size and strength.

This was getting ridiculous.

The symbiote surged forward, ensnaring Eddie's body and keeping his mind forcefully dormant. Black tendrils shot out from their chest, wrapped around their head, limbs, and torso, and spooking both Eddie and Jennifer. Venom shook their head irritably.

" **We didn't kill them. They are alive, and will likely live on to adulthood. They will, however, not be bothering you again. You have no right to be angry at us."**

Eddie might get angry with them now, and yes, they certainly scared Jennifer, but there was no way they were just gonna sit back and let such a weak creature lecture them about what is right and wrong. No matter how much Eddie cared for this human, they would not allow themselves to sink that low.

They took a warning step forward towards the smaller creature, who was starting to shake with fear. To her credit, though, she was standing her ground and not backing away. **"They were threatening your safety, and you are our ally. You are young, and if we understand human society correctly, it is the responsibility of adults to make sure you are safe. The adults at your own home failed to do so, so we took matter into our own hands. While we do apologize for the trouble we've caused for you with the police, we will** **not** **apologize for defending you. Do you understand that?"**

The room was very quiet for a long time, as Jennifer stared wide-eyed at them, taking in this new information. To their astonishment, she put on a slight frown again and shook her head. "No. Hurting others this bad is wrong." She turned her gaze to her feet, hugging her toy a little closer. "Lisette says you should turn your other cheek and not hit back. Hurting others is wrong, even when they hurt you."

" **And what then? Just keep letting others hurt you, until the end of days?! Lisette is wrong, when something lashes out at you, you have to fight back. The strong will always hurt the weak, that's how things are. You're not strong enough to defend yourself, so instead you find stronger allies, which would be us. Being allies mean we defend you, and that's what we did."**

"No! You have to tell the adults, so they can teach them how wrong they are! Then they stop!" Jennifer was crying now, yelling at them. They eased their voice into a firm, but gentle tone.

" **And have you told the adults?"** Jennifer looked back at her feet, sniveling lightly.

" **And why not?"**

The answer came after a little delay, broken and shaky.

"Because then you're a snitch. And then none of the other kids wants to play with you."

They placed a hand on her frail shoulder. **"Then telling the adults wouldn't make anything better, would it?"**

Jennifer started crying loudly, shaking her head wildly. Mimicking what they saw Eddie do, they gently picked her up and wrapped their arms around her, although a little awkwardly. She hid her face in their chest, smothering them in tears and snot for the umpteenth time. They decided to ignore it for the time being, and focused their attention on making her calm down again.

" **The adults at your old home can't protect you. Not against bullies, and not against the police. But you don't need them. Not this Carmen, not Lisette, and certainly not the kids we took out. You just needs us. We'll protect you and care for you, we'll bring you food and toys, and we'll be here for you when you need us."**

"I'll never get adopted now!" Jennifer wailed, and they honestly had no idea what that was supposed to mean, or why it as important. Carefully and cautiously they reawakened Eddie's mind, quickly filling him in on the situation. While they could feel him seething with anger, he was willing to save it for later. The symbiote closed their mouth and focused on their internal communication.

" _Humans are very dependent on their parents as young. Jennifer lost hers, and the orphanage is a place where adults can choose to adopt a kid and raise it as their own. Such is the dream of any orphan."_

" **There's a simple solution to that."**

They looked down and gently prodded the kids' shoulder. **"Jennifer."**

She looked up with tears and snot splattered all over her face, and on their chest. "Uh..?"

" **We'll adopt you. We'll raise you."**

" _What?!"_

Jennifer's eyes slowly widened and the tears stopped flowing freely down her cheeks. Her mouth opened slightly, gaping at them for a few seconds.

"Y... You will? You promise?" Venom turned back to mental communication for a short moment.

" **Well?"**

" _Jesus Venom, that's a pretty big deal!"_

" **Why? We were going to look after her anyway."**

" _Well, I guess you've got a point. Fine. It's a deal."_

They nodded. _**"We promise. We'll adopt you. We-"**_

They were interrupted when Jennifer suddenly pounced them, burying her face in their chest and crying anew.

" **What now?!"**

" _She's just happy."_

" **She's crying!"**

" _Sometimes people cry out of happiness, not sadness."_

" **How can a species be so simple, yet so needlessly complicated at the same time?!"**

" _Just humans I guess."_

Refusing to waste any more time on this, they retreated to their "shirt-form" as Eddie called it, and left Eddie to deal with the girl while they got themselves some much needed rest.

* * *

Wow, that took forever. The story is progressing though, and we're slowly getting closer to the actual plot. Hope you enjoyed reading, and may you have a nice day!


	5. Pain

So... Are we back? Why I think we are! Mind you, the plot and concept has gone through a serious makeover, as in, the original idea was completely scrapped. Luckily the first 4 chapters still fit into the new concept, and I can simply continue from here.

So... The story might seem a little fluffy for a little while, but don't worry, gore and death and jaywalking is coming. So hang on~

* * *

"Eddie! Eddie? Hey, Eddie? Venom?"

...Ugh.

They unhappily opened their eyes to look at the small human in front of them. It had been just four small days, but it felt like weeks. Eddie had insisted they got her a bed, so Venom had had to drag a large unhandy bed across town just to figure out it was too small. Then Eddie made a list of things she'd need, and they were only halfway through it.

"Good morning! I'm hungry! Aren't you hungry?"

" **Eddie."**

" _Mm."_

" **Eddie!"**

" _Zzz..."_

" **...Fantastic."**

Eddie was fast asleep. Reluctantly they stretched and sat up on the couch. Seriously, if the whelp deserved a bed, why didn't they?! Sure the couch had been sufficient for the past months, but it still seemed weird to prioritize the whelp over themselves.

" _ **Eddie's asleep."**_ They informed her. She blinked at them blankly.

"But you're up." She stated simply, then turned and ran into the kitchen. Venom was tempted to go back to sleep and leave her to her own devices, but they didn't like the idea of her shuffling through their possessions, so they grumpily got up and followed her instead.

" _ **What in the world are you doing?"**_

She turned her head from her position on the shelf, still reaching for the upper cupboard.

"I want cereal. Don't we have any?"

Venom huffed. _**"We don't have cereal. Eddie tells us it's bad without milk, and we don't have a refri… reff… refrigaradar... A cooling system."**_

She hopped down again, pouting. "But I want cereal! Can't we go get some?"

" _ **It'd be a waste. The milk would spoil quickly, and we don't want spoiled milk in the kitchen."**_

She beamed at them. "Then let's keep it in the living room!"

The unimpressed stare they offered her just made her laugh. But then she seemed to brighten with an idea.

"Then we go to someone's house while they're not home and eat some of theirs! And leave some money!" She seemed very proud of the idea. They frowned.

" _ **That's too much of a risk just for a specific type of sustenance. Just eat some bread."**_ But to their growing frustration she was shaking her head even before they finished speaking.

"Nuh-uh! I had bread all the other days, I'm sick of it! Pleeaase..!" She folded her hands and widened her eyes. Had Eddie been awake, he'd make them give in. Fortunately, the symbiote was much less affected by her "cuteness" as Eddie called it.

" _ **No. It's too risky, and we can't be bothered right now. If you don't want to eat, go play or go back to sleep."**_

Ten minutes later they were on their way uptown to find milk and cereal for the brat.

* * *

Ravencroft institute for the criminally insane was rarely ever a quiet place, but today the level of noise were way beyond the norm.

The cause was the attempted breakout of a short black haired woman, struggling against the guards dragging her down the hall back to her cell and possibly some sedatives. Another patient was being escorted into his cell, although he was uncharacteristically quiet as he watched the struggling woman.

When she suddenly broke free and raced down the hall, the male's guard momentarily let go of the straightjacketed man and jumped her, managing to catch her by the collar. A little unprofessionally the guards overpowered her and she was carried to her cell while two huffing guards stayed back.

"Man, that's the third time this week!"

"They should really take better care of keeping them in their cells! Brian got shived last week by an escapee."

"Not to mention all those super-powered psychos piling up. That Electro guy could fry basically anyone without one of those rubber suits his guards use! And what about that guy who throws fire?! I'm telling ya man, we're getting outnumbered here."

The other guard snorted. "And underfunded. We barely have enough meds for the crazies, and they keep on coming. Either they need to cough up some funds, or we're gonna have to close. Let's see how they like having all these clowns running free!"

The first guard made a noise deep in his throat. "And it's not like we're have too many guards either. It's a dangerous job, and it pays shit."

"Not their fault you insist on living in that big-ass house Larry."

"Was my parents' house! I inherited it!"

"Far as I know, they ain't dead yet."

"Eh, they'll be soon enough. Pop's an old man."

"...Larry."

"Hey, s'not my fault. He shoudda stopped smoking years ago."

"Larry shut up. Where's Kasady?"

"...Shit. Sound the alarm."

* * *

Well this had been a lovely week. First Electro broke free again, then Venom beat some kids into pavement splatter, kidnapped another kid, disappeared off the face of the Earth, and thanks to Jolly Jonah, the blame was apparently on the old web head.

And now he was trying to find some escaped Ravencroft lunatic.

Had to hand it to him though, for a guy in a straightjacket he was pretty darn good at hide and seek. According to the guards this Kasady guy was a serial killer, and pretty much a lost cause according to everyone but some Doctor Kafka, who'd probably saved him from the electric chair. Tall, pale, red hair, crazy eyes, straightjacket, and on the run. Should be easy enough to find. In theory at least.

The guards had warned him that Kasady had gotten free before and was known to carry an insane (lame pun intended) amount of shives and shanks with him, apparently no matter how many time the guards searched him. But seriously, the guy was in a straightjacket, what was the fuss?

The sound of rapid footsteps caught Spidey's attention and he rushed down the hall after them.

"Come back here! There's a warm bed and some nice calming sedatives waiting for you! Doesn't that sound nicaAARGH!"

He'd been so certain Kasady wasn't a serious threat he'd neglected to listen to his spider sense.

The man had ditched the straightjacket somewhere and traded it for a shiv. Using Peter's own speed against him, Kasady had barely moved towards him, simply holding the sharpened toothbrush in position while waiting behind a corner. Spidey managed avoid being stabbed in the stomach, but yelled in pain when the shiv went fairly deeply into his thigh. Groaning in pain he fell to his knees and elbows, kicking and rolling away when Kasady attacked him again. Blood was trailing now, and he'd have to wash this costume... Again!

"Itsy bitsy spider," Kasady sang, "dying in the hall..."

The man fit the short description spot on. Tall ginger on the run, although the jacket was missing. Spidey already missed it. The "crazy eyes" part was an understatement however. The teen had faced Electro, the Green Goblin, heck, even VENOM, but he still found himself trying to avoid looking into the serial killer's green eyes. There was nothing wrong with the pupil, or the color, or anything like that, but something still set him off. The way Kasady looked at him made his skin crawl, made him feel small and vulnerable, but no way was he giving the man the pleasure of knowing.

"I hate that song!" Peter growled as he jumped onto the ceiling, but almost fell back down immediately. The cut in his leg appeared deeper than he first thought, and he could barely move it without wanting to scream in pain. He clung to the ceiling with his remaining limbs, effortlessly dodging the shiv when it was thrown at him.

Kasady was laughing maniacally, walking under the web swinger to let his blood drip on his face. Spidey felt his stomach tie up a little bit when the man trailed a finger through the blood on his cheek and licked it off. The serial killer bent down and picked up the toothbrush, then started following the wall crawler when he started moving around on the ceiling. "I've never got to kill a superhero before," he mused aloud, "this'll be fun!"

"You have a weird definition of fun," Peter answered back, trying to hide just how unsettled he felt. "You-"

The noise of half a dozen guards storming down the hall towards them caught their attention. Kasady gave a displeased sound, similar to a child being told to stop a good game, and sent Spidey a last contemplative look before running towards the fire exit.

"We'll finish this later Spider Boy!" he yelled, then took the fire escape down, two steps at a time. Spidey lunged for him, but his leg gave a painful twinge and he landed heavily on the floor instead. Wonderful, now Kasady was getting away. Hopefully the police would get him before he got too far.

"Halt! Stop right there Spider-man!" The guard had finally caught up, and a big guy with greasy blond hair and uneven, unkempt teeth approached him angrily. "Where did you take Kasady?!"

"What?! Can't you see the blood? I didn't take him anywhere, he jumped out the window! Hurry, you might still catch him!" The guard didn't seem too inclined to believe him, but luckily Kasady was a more pressing issue. "Stay here!" He ordered the wounded superhero before following Kasady down the fire escape. The other guards quickly followed his lead.

"Yeah, as if." Spidey huffed before picking himself up and limping after them.

This wound would put him out of commission for now. Pursuing Kasady like this would only compromise the police, so Spidey shot a web and swung home instead.

Man that stung. A perfect end to a perfect week. Wonderful. He couldn't WAIT to read the newspaper tomorrow. And he wouldn't even get any money for pictures, because there'd be too many questions asked if Peter Parker had somehow smuggled a camera into Ravencroft the very day Kasady decided to go stabbing superheroes. He'd have to settle for a set up photo of himself limping across a building somewhere.

How the heck was he going to explain this wound to Aunt May?!

* * *

He was late again. The boy had just gotten better at being on time, and then he slipped back into his old habits. May was angry, she was upset, she felt like he hadn't respected her or her rules since Ben died, but most of all she was worried out of her mind.

He never addressed it, and she never asked. She wanted to respect his privacy, but maybe Anna was right, maybe he had gotten himself into some kind of trouble. At first she thought he was spending more time with Gwen and Harry, or other friends, but both kids had told her he was rarely ever around them either. His teachers had told her he ran off from class several times, either coming back much later or not at all. His grades were slipping, his social life was slipping, and she had no idea what was going on. Whenever she tried to touch the subject subtlety, he would turn the conversation around almost immediately, or find something else to do.

But regardless of how much she wanted to let him be happy and make his own decisions, no 16, almost 17 year old boy should be coming home with bruises almost every night, bruises that would just have magically disappeared the next morning. Bruises that were never explained.

It wasn't fair. She had taken him in, she had raised him like he was her own son, then Ben died and suddenly she was a stranger to him. So many nights she had lied in her bed, waiting for the noise from his room telling her he had come home, crawling through the window as usual. She had given up on waiting for him on those nights, because he would do everything in his power to avoid being seen. And he was uncomfortably good at it. He could move so quietly, making almost no noise at all.

May turned her head to glance at the clock on her nightstand.

01.10. It was one of those nights.

She gathered herself, got up from her bed, and headed down the stairs with her blanket wrapped tightly around her. Whenever he was this late, he was ALWAYS more hurt than normal. He would sometimes seem to triumph tiredly, but other times he would be gritty and upset. Those times were the worst, in May's opinion, because he'd always be gone the following nights as well, and be so quiet and brooding during the day.

The first time she had been so scared he might've gotten hurt while taking pictures for the Daily Bugle. She had often contemplated forcing him to quit the dangerous job, but heaven knew they needed the money he got for it. She was torn between the financial need and the danger her nephew might've involved himself in, but over short time she realized it was not the photos that were causing him harm. Many times he would come home without any pictures to cash in on, but plenty of bruises.

01.20. It was a school night for heaven's sake! Where was he?!

15 frustrated and worried minutes later, the front door finally slid open. She could hear a mild curse from her slumbering position on the couch, which she didn't even remember sitting down on, and the sound of someone limping inside.

Limping. Not walking.

In less time than she had thought possible, she was wide awake and off the couch. She all but ran to the hallway, greatly spooking Peter as he hung up his coat.

"PETER!"

"Aunt May! I-I didn't realize you were still up!"

No bruises on the face this time. An absentminded or uncaring onlooker may not have noticed anything wrong, but she could see that he was taking extra care of protecting his right leg.

"What happened to your leg?" She demanded, noticing the quick panic in his eyes before he hid it away.

"My leg? I just-"

"You're limping Peter. What happened." It was hardly even a request at this point. It was an order, a demand to be involved in whatever he was going through.

"I stumbled and fell on the way home. I'm sorry for being-"

"Are you doing drugs?"

The question came so suddenly that neither of them really expected it. For a few moments he was just gaping dumbfounded at her, then he started laughing. It was awkward and nervous, but at least he looked her in the eyes.

"Of course not. Why would I be doing drugs? I don't have time to-"

"Then what ARE you spending your time on?! You're gone all day, and I'm told nothing! What's happening Peter? Why won't you involve me in your life anymore?" He was uncomfortable now, scared, she could tell. He was averting his gaze again, a dead giveaway that he was either lying or trying to avoid the truth. "Do you hate me?"

He flinched as if she'd hit him. "Of course I love you. You- You're... You're like... You're my Aunt!"

She unsuccessfully tried to blink away the tears in her eyes. "Family doesn't equal love, Peter."

She turned and stumbled up the stairs to her bedroom, leaving him paralyzed in the hallway.

* * *

Well then. This chapter is long overdue, but I'm happy to announce that I have the story planned chapter to chapter now.

Plz don't hate me for that last part.


	6. Family

Here we are! I think I've hit a new record with this story – Biggest amount of chapters so far. (Best planned as well!)

Half this chapter is Venom and Eddie bickering. The other half is New York being a sucky place to live.

* * *

" **No."**

" _Don't be like that."_

" **Go mate yourself Brock."**

" _Ooo-kay, I've upset you. Look, I know, but plea-"_

" **No!"**

" _Venom, please don't be difficult-"_

" **NO!"**

" _Venom, look, for her sake-"_

" _ **N-!"**_

They would most likely have awoken their "child", had Eddie not clamped a hand across their mouth to prevent them from roaring out loud. She was sleeping in the next room, and a few minutes ago Venom had just been enjoying the quiet. These last few weeks of her living in their house, IN THEIR HOME AND SANCTUARY, had been really fucking awful. Sure, Eddie was happy, the baby was happy, but while the symbiote had managed to remain passive for the time being, their nerves were frayed. Patience was not one of their strong traits, and some anger were to be expected.

As of now, however, they were livid with rage.

" **ONE IS TOO MANY! WE'VE BEEN PATIENT, WE'VE BEEN TOLERANT, BUT THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! WE'VE ACCEPTED THE HUMAN INTO OUR HOME, WE'VE FED IT, AND LET YOU AMUSE YOURSELF WITH ITS PRESENCE, AND WE'VE BEEN GIVEN NOTHING BACK!"**

Eddie visibly winced. The "shirt" was unraveled, tendrils thrashing in uncontrollable rage in the small living room.

" **THREE WEEKS! THREE FULL WEEKS OF THIS NONSENSE! THREE WEEKS OF BEING PESTERED INTO STUPID GAMES AND IDIOTIC IDEAS! WE'RE DONE! SHE LEAVES NOW!"**

Eddie flinched lightly, making a low noise as a stray tendril struck him across the jaw, leaving an angry red mark. He tried again.

" _P-please Venom,"_ He whimpered mentally, gingerly touching his aching chin. "This might actually help a little; She's being difficult because she has no one else but us. A playmate would help ease the-"

" **NO! NO MORE CHILDREN IN THIS HOUSE!"**

" _Venom,"_ Eddie inhaled deeply. _"Please stop yelling in my head. I know you're angry, but it hurts."_

They WERE angry. Eddie was too, upset because of their anger, but most of all he was scared. Eddie had always been a tiny bit afraid of them, but now they could sense the fear in his brain, feel it in his body, smell it in the air... The weird thing, the stupid part of it all, was that he wasn't afraid Venom was going to hurt HIM; He was afraid they'd hurt Jennifer, the strange little girl he'd brought into their home. How or why the human would care so much for something he'd had for just a few weeks was beyond the alien, and it could really not be bothered to care right now. Humans, or at least those without a purpose (and sometimes those with) were intolerable, suffocating, and generally just absolutely fucking awful to have around. Eddie tried again, threading carefully to not further infuriate the symbiote, but still desperate to convince it of his absolutely ludicrous idea.

" _Please don't throw her out. She has nowhere to go and- And she knows..."_ Eddie's already pale face turned impossibly grey. _"Please, PLEASE don't kill her, Venom..! Please, she, she's not useless! If someone finds us, she, and another kid maybe, can work excellently as hostages..! If we have child hostages, nobody will dare to shoot us. And I promise, you don't have to do a thing! I can do all the cleaning, all the feeding, all the playing..! I'll teach them not to bother you, and you don't even have to really be a part of it at all..! Please Venom, she's so lonely..."_

The mental connection between them was quiet for a long time. Venom felt and sensed Eddie's frantic stream of thoughts; His worry, his fear, his desperation. The wild trashing of the tentacles slowly eased, and the alien started somewhat resembling a shirt again.

They did not want another kid. Regardless of Eddie's claims, the very idea of one more noisy, smelly, infuriating human kid in the house made them want to eat both humans present in the house. However, Eddie did make one point: Hostages, in case of attack. They had, so far, no squabbles with New York's other resident super villains, which meant any potential attacker would likely be concerned for the safety of the children.

Eddie's shoulders jumped slightly when Venom hissed at him viciously.

" **They'll be yours to take care of. We want not to be bothered, pestered, or even approached by them in any way; Teach them early and teach them good, because if you don't,"** Eddie gulped audibly, **"We will!"**

* * *

" _Venom, no."_

" **Why the fuck not?!"**

" _Venom, we can't just TAKE a kid! That's preposterous!"_

" **Then how the hell do you propose we find a 'playmate' for the whelp, genius?!"**

" _She's not a dog, and how about we look for an orphan? At an orphanage? A sad one who'd be happier elsewhere."_

" **One more member for the angst club then."**

" _Don't sass me. And pull me up, I'm getting dizzy! How the hell does Peter even manage to hang like this all the freaking time?!"_

" **His sense of balance is more advanced, and his-"**

" _I really don't care. Anyway..."_ They turned so their head was up and feet down and folded out a city map, which earned a very perplexed stare from a man who happened to look out of his apartment window in the block across the street. _"There should be an orphanage around here. Why can't we find it?"_

" **We don't know. It should be next to us, but that is an Oscorp factory."**

" _That doesn't make any sense! Why is the... Venom."_

" **Yes?"**

" _This map is from 1979."_

" **So?"**

" _So?! SO there's no orphanage here! This map is outdated, the city changed!"_

" **How was we supposed to know?! You were too busy smothering your toy to pay attention when we left home!"**

" _Jennifer is NOT a toy! She's not a possession! And maybe if you'd thought: 'Oh hey, this map is really old; maybe it's OUTDATED', we wouldn't be wasting our time here!"_

" **How the hell were we supposed to know that?! We've only been on your pathetic planet for a few months, how do you expect us to just figure out how your time system works?!"**

" _Right, okay, you got a point. No need to- Wait, is that..?"_

In hindsight, Venom figured the attack had been pretty unprovoked. He didn't even see them.

Their foot connected with the soft skin of his belly, just below the ribs, sending the teen falling toward the street below in a neat, graceful curve. Half a second later, a set of black claws wrapped around his leg and jerked him out of his crash course so quickly, his hip made a rather uncomfortable sound. Spider-man crashed into a dumpster in a dark alley about 40 feet below before he even realized what hit him in the first place.

He made a strained, pained sound as he tried to pull himself back up. His dislocated hip hurt him though, and he immediately slumped back down. Had he been anyone else, he would've been dead. Instead he turned his head and looked blearily at his attacker.

"E... En'm?" He asked uncertainly, fighting for air.

" _ **Aw, it's trying to speak,"**_ They half purred, half snarled. _**"It looks hurt though. We'd better end the suffering..."**_ They drew closer slowly, teeth bared and claws tense.

Spider-man might've tried to say something, but after ramming into the dumpster head-first, he was obviously not completely aware of his surroundings. He tried to get up again, but could barely drag himself away. Venom placed a foot on his already sore belly and pressed down, leaning on their knee.

" _ **Whazzat? Does it hwurt wittle spwider-baby?"**_ They pressed down a little more, a grin spreading across their face when the boy whimpered in pain. _**"We hope it-"**_

Spider-man turned his head and made a disgusting sound. The lower half of his mask swelled and a smell of puke spread in the air.

" _ **...Ew."**_ They made a face and removed their foot to kick the heaving body across the alley. _**"You're so disgusting sometimes, you know that?"**_ They strolled over and picked their enemy up by the neck, carefully avoiding touching the puke smothered mask. _**"Like that time you leisurely cashed in on Doctor Connor's pain, or when you hurt the people who tried to help you... Or when you couldn't be bothered to visit your aunt in the hospital."**_

As they threw him back down on the pavement, Venom couldn't help but notice their spider was uncharacteristically quiet. He was more than strong enough to withstand the attack, and he didn't appear wounded before. Even his dizziness should be gone by now. Yet he didn't retort, and he didn't fight back. Apparently, all was not well with their spider.

"Eddie-" The boy began, but said Eddie interrupted him with an angry fist to the face.

" _ **WE'RE VENOM!"**_ they screamed, although their spider couldn't exactly hear them, unconscious as he was now.

" _ **Gross!"**_ They hissed, wiping their hand on a wall, then turned their gaze back to the unconscious young man before them, considering.

" _Now! We kill him now!"_

" **No."**

" _...NO?!"_

" **No. It'd be pointless."**

" _POINTLESS?! He'd be dead!"_

" **Yes. He'd be dead. And then what?"**

" _And then- We'd be free from him, you sorry excuse for a-"_

" **Do yourself a favor and don't finish that thought Brock. If we kill him now, he'd die in his sleep, blissfully unaware and unafraid. That's what you want for him? A painless death?"**

Eddie was quiet for a little while. Venom held their proverbial breath.

Truth be told, they'd lied to Eddie. A lot. Sure, Eddie might believe their purpose, intention, and desire was to murder the wall crawler, but their plans were a little bit different. Don't squash the spider, break it. Take everything from it, its family, friends, allies, life... Then offer it a second chance. With nothing else left, it'll be all yours.

So they needed their spider alive. Broken, but alive.

Eddie growled lightly. He, unfortunately did not share their point of view.

" _It might be our only chance. He's gotten away every other time, if- Who's crying?"_

When they would think back on the moment later, Venom would find some irony in how the whole quest for a child companion to the girl in their home, an idea they had fought so viciously against, would be the thing to protect their own interests. And their spider's life as well they supposed.

Because after sending the puke smothered body on the ground a last glance, they snuck across the street and look around a corner into another alley. And to the symbiote's big relief, what they saw completely took his mind off their spider.

A small human, male as far as they could tell (why was it so hard with the young ones?!), was being backed into a corner by a grown man in a large dark trench coat. A large white vehicle (why was Eddie suddenly shivering with anger like that?) was parked on the road, possibly in an attempt to shield the view from curious onlookers. The man was motioning for the kid to come closer.

"Here, kiddo... Don't you want a ride? Kids like you shouldn't be alone at night... Let me drive you home boy..."

The thoughts in Eddie's head was so frantic Venom couldn't keep up. Something was obviously very wrong about this, but the spider was unconscious, and no police was nearby. Before Venom could even comprehend what Eddie was doing, the human moved them up behind trench coat, making the kid's eyes go almost comically large in his head. Trench coat made an amused noise in his throat.

"What're you looking at kiddo? You look like you've seen an alie-"

The last word ended in a strange mix of a gasp and a splutter, as trench coat chose the moment to turn his head and find himself looking straight into Venom's chest.

" _ **We have to agree. The night is filled with dangerous types of people,"**_ They leaned forward, flicking their tongue in the air between trench coat's horrified face and their own barred teeth. _**"Like us!"**_

Trench coat gave off a scream and bolted. Unfortunately for him, Venom was blocking his escape route to his vehicle, and a large apartment complex was blocking the other way, causing the man to run around himself once before sprinting up the street.

Venom was inclined to pursuit him, but Eddie was much more concerned with the boy.

" _ **Are you okay kid?"**_ Kindness was not something they practiced often, but they'd have to manage. The kid was still staring at them, tears and snot running down his face. He didn't make anything close to an attempt of communication. Rude.

They sighed softly. _**"Hey, we're not going to hurt you. You shouldn't be here. Let us help you home."**_

Still no cooperation. At least the kid didn't run, but Eddie refused to leave him here. They kneeled down and offered a hand, palm up.

" _ **We know we're a bad guy, but you can trust us right now. We just want to help. Where do you live? Or should we just call the police?"**_

Finally their efforts was met with some reward. The kid whimpered lowly, making a single word. "...'ere."

They frowned lightly in confusion. _**"Here?"**_

He nodded. "Here. I live here."

" _ **Here?"**_ Now it was their turn to go wide-eyed. _**"But this is just an alley! How old are you, how- How long have you lived here? Where are your parents?"**_

The boy shrugged lightly, wiping his nose and averting his gaze, trying to hide an embarrassed blush spreading on his face. "I'm 9 and a half year old. Mom and dad is in the apartment, pumped high on heroin or some other crap. I look after myself."

" _ **Junkie parents, huh? Sounds tough. You sure you don't need help?"**_ They lifted an eyebrow, sending the kid a skeptical look. He might be trying to act like he was alright, but he was young. And just a few minutes ago he'd been crying and whimpering in fear. No way he could look after himself.

" _ **We-"**_ they started, but Venom quickly cut into Eddie's thoughts.

" **Eddie."**

" _I, wh- what?"_

" **Kid. Orphan. Isn't this what we're looking for?"**

" _Damnit, you're right! Good thinking Venom! Thanks!"_

" **That's what we do, host mine. Now before the kid runs away..."**

They quickly snapped back to attention, while the kid nervously shifted his feet, unnerved by their sudden silence. He jumped lightly when they talked. _**"Kid, we have a proposition for you. We don't know if you were aware, but recently we allied ourselves with a kid. She's living in our home now, but she's lonely. We can provide food and safety if you agree to keeping her some company. What do you say?"**_

The kid seemed stunned with disbelief for a little while, but then it appeared the gears started turning in his head. Eddie quietly informed them that a kid who'd grown up on the street was inclined to be a little... Different than other kids. If different meant less noisy and pestering, Venom was ready to pick the kid up by his shirt and drag him home.

Finally the kid nodded, although still somewhat hesitant.

With a grin, they scooped the kid up and hurried on home. While the kid clung breathlessly to their neck, Venom inquired Eddie on what the deal with trench coat had been.

About 5 minutes later, the alien found themselves with an even lower opinion of the human race, and a strange feeling of relief they'd stepped in when they did.

* * *

He stank. Not only stinking like, holy damn he was bad as his job, but also because he STANK! His mask was smothered in puke, and he couldn't get it off until he got home.

Peter had no idea how long he'd been out, but when he woke up it was much darker than when he went on patrol, and Venom was long gone. Why he'd been left alive still eluded him, but he had a bad feeling Venom might have plans for him.

After what felt like an eternity, he arrived at his home address in Queens. Carefully sneaking down the side of the house, he peeked through his bedroom window. Fortunately, his room was empty, and he stealthily opened the window and crawled inside, immediately throwing off the suit and going to the bathroom for a much needed bath.

Ugh, this was so disgusting...

After a well-deserved bath, and some rough cleaning of his suit, he hid the brightly colored spandex in his closet and put on some clean clothes before crawling into bed. So soft...

Just before slipping off the dreamland, Peter realized the lights weren't on downstairs.

Aunt May hadn't waited up for him.


	7. Hunter and Hunted

So much for writing this during summer break. My bad people. Slow updating is persistent then.

Guys, be warned, graphic descriptions of gore at play. You've been warned.

Welcome back anyhow. Hope you're all doing well!

Bringing in the new kid had its upsides. Jennifer was less pesky, and the boy provided a small income of food from dumpster diving and certain places he apparently knew of.

However, there were downsides as well.

For one, there was the increased need for food and other necessaries. Irritating, but manageable. The crazily increased level of noise in the small place was a little more of a source of frustration than a serious problem, but since there was less bothering of Venom, the symbiote could see the advantage. Eddie hadn't been completely wrong. But there was one, serious issue now. Space.

The small home consisted of 3 tiny rooms, on just about 60m2. Venom's bedroom only had space for themselves, so the kids had been sharing the living room, trying their best to both fit on the small couch. In the end they had to take turns sleeping on the floor.

" _We can't stay here."_

" **Where else do you want us to go? This is all we have."**

" _There's not enough room for all of us. We need bigger housing."_

" **And where do you propose we find that?! At Walmart?!"**

" _I, argh, I know, but we don't have enough space..! We need to go look for a new place."_

" **All this would've been avoided if you hadn't-"**

" _I know Venom! I know, none of this would've happened if not for the kids, you've told me a thousand times already! But telling me what I already know isn't going to change anything!"_

" **Ugh, fine. Let's move then. The brats are entertaining themselves anyway."**

So let's take a look at the task list of these past few weeks;

Study for important test one week away: Nope.

Get some money for pictures at the Bugle: No pictures, no money.

Take Liz on a date: No money, no date. And Marc wouldn't give him a break.

Stop dangerous psychopath from escaping mental institution: Kasady got away, Spidey was yelled at by officer.

Track and catch said escaped psychopath after escape: No trace of Kasady, public opinion of the web head lower than ever.

Find Venom and save kidnapped girl: Got slapped around, dislocated hip, and puked in mask. Suit was only just cleaned out properly.

Patch things up with Aunt May: They had barely talked all week. She'd been avoiding him, and he hadn't had the guts to talk to her.

So, Peter Parker AND Spider-Man had been a total failure. He was going to fail his test, had no money, couldn't face his family, and everyone thought Spider-Man stank.

Maybe it was just a sign. That it was time to hang up the webs, get a real job, and drop the whole "I can save the world with some mixed up liquid cement."

And yet, here he was, swinging through lower Manhattan, too high up to hear the yells from the citizens below. Somehow, he could only find some level of peace when he was swinging through the city, looking for trouble. Probably not the healthiest habit.

The empire state building whooshed by, as he passed it the umpteenth time that day. Good thing the webbing dissolved on its own, or the city would've drowned in webs long ago.

Doing a flip and landing on adjacent skyscraper, Spider-Man looked around and gave off a disappointed sigh.

Apparently he'd scared the criminals off the streets again. At least that was something.

Seriously, where we all the Doc Ocks and Sandmans and crazy furry hunters today? Why did it need to be so quiet? Maybe he should just head home and study instead...

He spun a web and hopped off his skyscraper when he noticed someone familiar swing by a few blocks away. Maybe he shouldn't have wished for trouble...

He ran alongside a roof and swung towards where he'd noticed Venom. As he got closer, he regained his visual of the symbiote-clad man swinging towards Hell's Kitchen, just out of sight of people below. Wait, was that..?

It was! The missing girl, alongside some other kid Peter didn't recognize were tied to Venom's back with black webbing, faint yells and shrills sounding from their direction. Peter felt his pulse speed up as he tried to catch up with Venom, praying he wouldn't be noticed until he got the kids to safety.

His wish did not come true, however, as a high thin voice suddenly screamed out, and Venom spun around. Wonderful

"Let those kids go, Venom!" He wasn't positive he was heard, the wind was in his face and there was still a fair distance between the two of them. Venom probably wouldn't have heeded orders anyway.

The black figure spun around again, landed on and sprinted down a building, trying to lose the wall crawler in the alleys below. But Spidey wasn't having it today.

"Come back here!" He followed the alien as fast as his legs could carry him, turning and twisting to avoid staircases, doorways and people, as the two, uh, FOUR of them dashed through the walls of the alleys, spooking quite a few passersby, darted into the sunlight on the main streets, ran to another alley, up a building, swung across a street, down a building, turning left, right, left again, down, right, right, up, and through the alleys again.

Heart was going seventy thousand mph, lungs were on fire, legs numb, head spinning.

He was going to lose them. No way he was gonna catch up, he was either going to faint or run into something and bust his head open.

He had to stop but he couldn't.

He couldn't allow himself to lose them, couldn't admit defeat and give up. Everything had been going wrong lately, he HAD to make SOMETHING go right. This was why he put on thighs every night! To protect people, to keep them safe! He HAD to save those kids, stop Venom.

Speaking of Venom, Spidey had lost visual. The alien had disappeared with the kids somewhere in the shadows, and at this point, Spidey couldn't even stand up anymore. He slumped down, crumbling in the alley, and spend several long minutes just lying there and gasping like fish on land. Wonder if there was gonna be a fish-based supervillain someday? Or like, a Sandman but water? Could Sandman give him good dreams like in the stories?

Spidey wasn't completely aware of how long he'd been lying there, half unconscious, half dead, just waiting for this torturous misery to be over. When his head finally cleared and the pain subsided enough for him to slowly scramble to his feet, he took a slow look around.

Where was he? Some alley on Manhattan, probably. Hopefully. He honestly couldn't tell right now.

Leaning against the wall for support, Spider-Man slowly regained his bearings. Definitely Manhattan. Not as far away as he had initially thought, Venom had had them running around in circles, probably trying to shake him off.

He stumbled a few steps forward, suddenly noticing the sound of child voices.

"We lost him! He'll never find us!" The voice was light and thin, sounded like a little girl.

"Shh Jenn! We can't be sure yet!" Another voice. More hushed and not as light as the first.

" _ **Shush, both of you. Now get inside!"**_

Venom! And the other two must've been the kids! Why did the girl sound so happy about getting away though?

He carefully snuck closer, just managing to catch a glimpse of a large dark humanoid figure entering a hidden doorway and closing the door behind them.

So this was where Eddie and symbiote had been hiding all this time. He'd actually found Venom's hideout! Trying to control his ragged breathing and the stupid grin on his face, the teenager slipped back into the darkness of the alley, making sure to keep track of the route and nearby landmarks so he could find the place again later.

Humm...

It was a good night. Cloudy to the point of almost raining, cold and clammy, and with low visibility in the dark. Even the sounds of the city seemed hushed. A good night indeed.

He grinned in anticipation and slipped out of the alley towards the street. A great night really. His kind of night.

A dog barked stupidly somewhere, chasing and mauling a stray cat. A rat scurried away as he approached, hiding somewhere in the trash to gnaw on someone's cadaver... And trash. Lots of trash. The city was full of trash. Everyone was full of trash. A fantastic night.

Another man walked down the other side of the street. Sneaking down by the streetlamps, biting off a large chunk of a human-entrails sandwich, gore and saliva dripping down his chin and he hummed and licked his lips in a drugged haze. The best kind of night.

As he licked his lips and tasted the blood from where he bit himself earlier, he started moving to cross the street and get to the meat bag. He suddenly jumped back into the darkness of the alley when several police cars sped by, sirens off. Uh-oh, someone was getting it today. But not him. He giggled lightly. Not him, not tonight. Perfect night.

He returned to the alleys and went to find another place to hunt.

"I'm hungry!"

"Hi Hungry, I'm Eddie."

Jennifer looked utterly confused.

Oliver huffed. "She's serious, Venom!"

"We thought she was Hungry?" Eddie laughed at his own stupid joke. The symbiote mentally groaned, leaving the humans to their bickering and tried to take a rest.

Truth be told, they were exhausted. The escape through the city had been hectic, and the spider had been far more persistent than usually. They almost began to think they'd have to stop him with force, but then they lost him not far from here. Having the spider this close to their home was dangerous, but both symbiote and host were far too exhausted at the time to even consider leading the spider further away.

Something was definitely up with their spider though. He was uncharacteristically quiet and seemed utterly unconcerned with his own safety. Perhaps something was up with his friends again.

But the kids were safe, they were safe, and while they had returned without a new place to live and had no food for the night, going out to search was currently too dangerous, even for Oliver. Eddie had read in the news that some dangerous lunatic escaped the police, and was on the loose somewhere in the city.

There was a firm knock on the door.

Symbiote, kids, and host all turned to stare at the door in horrified anticipation. There was another knock.

"Venom! We know you're in there! Let the kids go, or we'll sent to SWAT team in!"

No. No, no nonononono, no, this wasn't happening. Not now. Not here.

Jennifer snapped for breath, slowly turning and looking at them with wide teary eyes. Oliver was pale as a sheet.

"Venom, come out now! This is your last warning! You are surrounded!"

Venom took a deep breath, weighing their options. Sounds of weapons being prepared outside could be heard faintly through the door.

" **Eddie, go to sleep."**

" _WHAT?!"_

" **We need full control of your body to handle this. Go to sleep."**

" _I... I trust you. Don't let them hurt the kids."_

" **Promise. Now go to sleep."**

Eddie obeyed and Venom took the full control, slowly turning to their stronger form. They kneeled down and the kids climbed to their back.

" _ **Be with you in a minute officer..."**_

They took a contemplative look at the window above the couch. Should be big enough to fit them all. Their own precognitive senses warned them that there were snipers pointing at the window... But no sonic weaponry here. They quickly covered both kids in tendrils, leaving just enough space for air to pass to them.

As an officer kicked down the door and pointed a gun everywhere they jumped through the glass. A bullet grazed the side of their face, but the snipers stopped firing as soon as someone realized they were carrying the kids. The Spider was conveniently not present, and so they ran, leaving home and police behind.

They had no idea for how long they fled. They were still on Manhattan, because the police had blocked all roads leading off the island. When they stopped, dawn was breaking, and they needed some kind of shelter. All they found was a tiny apartment in a condemned building. Both kids were exhausted and crying, and after waking him up, Eddie was on the verge of crying as well.

They lost everything. Everything they owned were still in the apartment, lest the police had taken it away. Clothes, books, treasures... Gone. Just like that.

The spider was going to pay for this. One way or another, he was going to pay for this. Going to regret ever crossing them, they'd tear his spine out through his nose, they'd eat his fucking brain!

But first, they'd tend to Eddie and the kids. It was cold, they were hungry, and they were scared.

" **Eddie, it's too cold here."**

There was no answer.

" **Eddie."**

...

" **Eddie!"**

" _He's going to pay."_

" **Yes. Yes he is. But we're freezing, we need to-"**

" _We should've killed him when we had the chance."_

" **...The kids are cold."**

Eddie turned his attention to the shivering kids and quickly scooped them up, taking off and using his jacket as a make-shift blanket. The symbiote dislocated itself from Eddie and covered as much of the humans as it could, having lost a large amount of body mass during the earlier escapes.

"We're going to be okay."

The kids looked up at Eddie, eyes teary and white, but no longer crying at least.

The four of them huddled together in a corner of the small room, trying to get some sleep, despite the cold and the hunger, clinging to Eddie's promise as much as they each dared.

And, I think we'll end it here. A few more chapters and the plot will start picking up :)


End file.
